Siete Años Locos – Seven Crazy Years – Bob’s Book

In April I wrote a blog post about my husband publishing his memoir, “Seven Crazy Years.” Here is an excerpt from that post:

“This is the story of how a boy from the wrong end of London came to build and promote some of the best and iconic motor racetracks and events in the world. After graduating as a Civil Engineer Bob emigrated to Australia and continued in the profession until unexpectedly being thrust into Adelaide’s bid for the F1 Grand Prix. Bob tells of the highs and lows, three wives, four continents, and two bankruptcies.

Best known for his Australian adventures, including promoting Frank Sinatra at Sanctuary Cove, Bob has been working for over 35 years in improving and innovating tracks worldwide. This has resulted in winning awards of excellence for both construction and event management including Formula One, MotoGP, World Sportscars, and NASCAR.

Bob has continued to construct tracks for karts and for ordinary performance car users on private club courses across America.

This is a unique insight into the world of track construction and life as a race promoter.”

A very interesting life and a great read. But it gets better.

At the time we published it we looked into having it translated into Spanish so that our friends here could read it. Unfortunately, the quotes that we received were very expensive and for the market we were looking to sell in just didn’t justify that investment. We told our friends and apologized.

That’s when one of them suggested that they each take a chapter and translate it. Then they would get together with Bob to review. So, they each took a chapter and started the process. Then one of them, Alex, took the reins. When they each finished their chapters then Alex went through it meticulously.

Over a few months, Alex and Bob would sit down for many, many hours and a few bottles of red wine and Bob would answer Alex’s questions. Some of these were technical terms used in motor racing or construction. Many of them were English or Australian sayings that Alex needed Bob to explain. A few of these were peculiar to the culture of England and Australia, but after explaining their origin and meaning Alex could find a Spanish saying that conveyed the same. For example “After The Lord Mayor’s Show.” He explains the origin, and that it has two meanings. One is cleaning up the mess after the event, the other that there is a let down after the success. He used “After Guardiola left Barcelona” to explain that!

Bob was very touched that these friends would spend their time to translate his book, but I think they enjoyed the challenge and the result.

A HUGE thank you and gracias to our wonderful friends. Hanna, Yuko, Gloria, Virginia, Montse, Kim, and Alex!

If you would like to order a copy of the book in Spanish here is the link. “Siete Años Locos” https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/bob-barnard/siete-a%C3%B1os-locos/paperback/product-rjyykk.html?page=1&pageSize=4

If you would like to order a copy of the book in English here is the link. “Seven Crazy Years” https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/bob-barnard/seven-crazy-years/paperback/product-1rzjwwvj.html?page=1&pageSize=4